Boris Johnson set to return to work by Monday

Boris Johnson might return to work as soon as Monday, according to government officials who say the UK prime minister is making a rapid recovery from coronavirus.

Mr Johnson is hoping to return to his office early next week - much sooner than expected, Downing Street figures said, although they emphasised that a final decision had not been taken. The news was first reported in the Daily Telegraph, which quoted one official saying the prime minister had already been working “pretty much full time” this week.

Donald Trump, the US president, said at his daily press briefing in Washington on Thursday that Mr Johnson, who left hospital on April 12, had sounded ready to return to work when they spoke on the phone earlier in the week. “I will tell you, he sounded incredible, he was ready to go,” he said. “It’s like the old Boris, tremendous energy, tremendous drive.”

Matt Hancock, health secretary, said on Friday morning that the prime minister was sounding “cheerful, ebullient and on the mend in a big way”. _Agencies

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